The Clock of Memories

Episode 7: "The Last TIC TAC"

Victor sat at the kitchen table, staring at the old clock before him. The weight of silence hung in the air, broken only by the soft sound of the wind outside. The clock, lifeless and still, seemed to hold all the answers, yet provided no comfort.

The last few days seemed like a blur. Or perhaps they were weeks? He couldn’t tell anymore. The lines between dream and reality blended with relentless cruelty, and he questioned every moment, wondering if his memories were real or just fragments of a desperate mind.

The clock had brought him here, a symbol of his desperate quest for control, to change the past, to correct irreversible mistakes. He thought about Gabriel, about Clara, and the countless attempts to save what he believed mattered. Now, looking at the small metal object, Victor realized something he had been slow to understand: he had never had control.

His brother, his marriage, his life... Everything he tried to fix had shattered. Each return to the past only distanced him further from the present. The happiness he sought relentlessly slipped away like water through his fingers.

He looked down at his hands, trembling and weary, the same hands that had tried so many times to turn the hands of time. Regret consumed him, but something new settled in his chest—a bitter yet necessary acceptance. The weight of his actions was inevitable, but finally, he began to understand the true cost of what he had done.

The doorbell rang. The sound echoed through the house, and for a moment, Victor hesitated. He wasn’t expecting visitors. Perhaps it was Clara, or Gabriel... but deep down, he knew it wasn’t them. He stood slowly, with a heavy heart, and walked to the door.

When he opened it, there stood the guardian. The same enigmatic figure who had accompanied him on his journey. The man wore the same old suit, and the air around him seemed heavy with immutable wisdom.

“It’s time,” the guardian said, his voice echoing in a grave tone. “Do you understand?”

Victor remained silent for a moment, his words caught in his throat. He nodded slowly, not taking his eyes off the guardian.

“I understand,” he murmured, feeling the weight of each word. “The truth is... I was trapped in memories. Every attempt to change the past only trapped me further. I thought I could fix things, but the past... it can’t be fixed.”

The guardian observed Victor with a silent look of approval. “Memories can become a prison, Victor, if we let them. The clock gave you the power to revisit the past, but never to change it. You tried to escape the present, but the only way out was always in front of you: to accept the now.”

Victor closed his eyes for a moment, the guardian’s words reverberating in his mind. He thought about all the times he wanted to go back and undo his pain, correct his mistakes. He realized that his obsession with altering the past had cost him more than any original mistake. He had lost the ability to live in the present.

“Are you ready to move on?” the guardian asked, a trace of compassion in his voice.

Victor opened his eyes, feeling a strange inner peace beginning to form. The future was still uncertain, but for the first time in a long time, he didn’t feel the need to control it.

“I’m ready,” he replied, his voice steady yet serene.

The guardian stepped forward, extending his hand. In his palm, the old clock glowed one last time, its energy soft and delicate, like a final breath. “This is the end of your journey with the clock. It has fulfilled its role, and now, you must continue without it.”

Victor hesitated, looking at the clock one last time. Part of him felt the urge to hold onto it again, to try one more time. But that part of him was fading. He knew he could no longer live trapped by what had already happened.

“Goodbye,” Victor whispered to the clock before finally handing it to the guardian.

As soon as the clock touched the guardian’s hand, it shone brightly and then disappeared, as if it had never existed. The house around Victor felt lighter, the air clearer. He took a deep breath, feeling as if a great burden had been lifted from his shoulders.

The guardian gave Victor one last look. “Remember, Victor. Time is a river that flows only forward. Living in the past is drowning in its waters. Live in the present, for it is all we truly have.”

With those words, the guardian vanished, leaving Victor alone at the door.

Victor turned back into his house, the familiar surroundings that he had so often ignored in his relentless quest for what was lost. He walked to the window, where sunlight gently filtered in. The sounds of the city returned in the background, filling the space with life.

He thought of Clara, of Gabriel, of all those who had been important to him. He could no longer change what had happened, but he could move forward, learning from his mistakes, carrying the scars as reminders that the past, no matter how painful, did not define the future.

He sat at the table, watching the day unfold outside. For the first time, without the need to go back, without the desire to alter the course of events. The present was all he had now, and for the first time, he was ready to live it.

The clock of memories had disappeared, but the lessons it brought would remain.

Victor smiled slightly, with a renewed sense of hope. The past was where it belonged—in the past. And he, finally, was free.

End of "The Clock of Memories"